. pope benedict xvi was born in 1927 as joseph ratzinger in germany he was forced into hitler's youth at age 14. he served in the army but deserted and was captured by the americans. we are hoping to speak from officials from the archdiocese this morning. we'll let you know what they have to say. live from san francisco, i'm tara moriarty, ktvu channel 2 news. >> thank you. >>> in overnight news, a crash in concord leaves one man with life-threatening injuries. police say he was walking across clayton road near bay lie road around 6:15 last night when a car hit him. investigators say the 52-year- old man was not in a crosswalk. he was rushed to john muir medical center. police know who hit him. an investigation is still underway. >>> copper thieves are causing big problems for bay area drivers. alex savidge has a look at -- a look at this problem. >> reporter: copper thieves could be partly to blame for that lengthy commute. they targeted metering lights here at the isabel avenue entrance to 580 here. i will show you what they did. they broke into this electrical box here and they rip

know. >> pope benedict was elected in 2005 and formally known as cardinal joseph ratzinger and the something station will -- the expectation will begin about

years. she wrote about her friend when he was just cardinal joseph ratzinger. >> john paul ii was much more vigorous. when he wanted something, he was really now! joseph ratzinger is not now, but is trying to convince -- maybe try to convince to make these people reasoning in a certain way, but he didn't succeed. >> reporter: even the most faithful say his legacy will be m mixed with great accolades for his teachings and writings but criticism for some of his leadership. >> success is hard to say. it's not that there's been highs and lows but issues to deal with that have been very serious. >> reporter: the abuse of children by priests has driven people away from the church. >> i think there are all kinds of rules and regulations that have been set up to protect children more so that this does not happen again. >> reporter: the growing consensus is that the next pope must be a strong manager, able to take on the challenges and reign in a dysfunction al. able to lead this institution and charisma never hurt. >> i hope he will be a man with a vision and can move forward. say to the

humility of joseph ratzinger, as he will become at the moment of his abdication once again. and in a strange way, this is his last great service to the church. he wants the church to have the kind of strong leadership that it needs. as i understand it, the process will unfold rather much like the process would unfold had the pope died except for the fact that the cardinals will obviously now be gathering in rome in the weeks before february 28th so that they can enter the conclave immediately on the abdication of the pope and begin the process of choosing his successor, which could take several days or several weeks. >> for those who are not familiar with this process, the papal conclave will be convened and require a tw-thirds majority among the cardinals to elect a successor? >> that's correct. and one thing about the timing of this that is interesting is that the college of cardinals is now just about as full as it can be. the maximum number of the electors is set at 120. i think we're almost there right now. so, this will be the largest conclave in history when it convenes either

. what has struck me in the 25 years i have known the man who will return to being joseph ratzinger, is the simplicity of his soul. this is a thoroughly convinced christian believer who happens to be one of the smartest people in the world who speaks six or seven languages with complete flewency, who knows the history of biblical religion from "a" to "z." who never wanted to be an executive, a manager, who always thought of himself primarily as a scholar. but who somehow could translate all of that learning into beautiful simplicities about god's love for the world and for god's people. >> and, george, even as we honor the service of this pope, we look forward to the election of a new pope. and tell us about this process. i mean, is this a sort of thing where, for lack of a better term, there are front-runners? >> there will be an enormous amount of ink spilled in the italian press over the next two weeks about front-runners. most of that would be silly. there are a number of cardinals who fit what would seem to me to be the profile. first of all, a man in full physical vigor. that sugg

election of a new pope. >> joseph ratzinger, matt, in 2005, was one of only two cardinals who had participated in the papal elections. the two elections of 1978. he knows exactly what the purchas burden of responsibility is that these men are taking on themselves. he knows the conflicting emotions that many of them have. some of which greg and father baron have just described. i think he was saying to them, look, i know how you feel. and i am going to be with you in solidarity and in prayer over the next several weeks. of what is going to be a difficult test. >> at the same time, he has made clear, he does not want to exert undue influence on the process. this is not somebody who's behind the scenes twisting arms saying this should be the next pope? absolutely not, savannah. he is going to disappear. we're not going to see this man for months. he's too much a respecter of the process. he's too much of a respecter of his brother cardinals. and he's too, frankly, humble a human being to try to monkey in any way whatsoever with the selection of his successor. >> matt? >> yeah, i was